diff --git a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/fbalpha2012.nix b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/fbalpha2012.nix
index febf6f7935a8..546daaa27b35 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/fbalpha2012.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/fbalpha2012.nix
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
   lib,
   fetchFromGitHub,
   mkLibretroCore,
+  runCommand,
+  zlib,
 }:
-mkLibretroCore {
+mkLibretroCore rec {
   core = "fbalpha2012";
   version = "0-unstable-2024-10-21";
 
@@ -14,8 +16,29 @@ mkLibretroCore {
     hash = "sha256-giEV09dT/e82bmDlRkxpkW04JcsEZc/enIPecqYtg3c=";
   };
 
+  sourceRoot = "${src.name}/svn-current/trunk";
+
+  # unvendor zlib and broken minizip code
+  postPatch =
+    let
+      minizip-src = runCommand "minizip-src" { } ''
+        mkdir $out
+        unpackFile ${zlib.src}
+        cp */contrib/minizip/{unzip.*,ioapi.*,crypt.h} $out/
+      '';
+    in
+    ''
+      substituteInPlace ${makefile} \
+        --replace-fail '-I$(FBA_LIB_DIR)/zlib' ""
+
+      cp ${minizip-src}/* src/burner
+    '';
+
+  buildInputs = [ zlib ];
+
+  makeFlags = [ "EXTERNAL_ZLIB=1" ];
+
   makefile = "makefile.libretro";
-  preBuild = "cd svn-current/trunk";
 
   meta = {
     description = "Port of Final Burn Alpha ~2012 to libretro";
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2003.nix b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2003.nix
index 47b83ea80c5c..7dcbb8ab29d3 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2003.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2003.nix
@@ -5,15 +5,18 @@
 }:
 mkLibretroCore {
   core = "mame2003";
-  version = "0-unstable-2024-11-01";
+  version = "0-unstable-2024-12-10";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "libretro";
     repo = "mame2003-libretro";
-    rev = "6d543115531fc96422b73c989a628600cacbea50";
-    hash = "sha256-jFzFQVB0uiSRa82sq1fiMEXyzzDJqRANNgq5hj/ZAl4=";
+    rev = "b6c6d52d8d630d1a172b6b771443dcbbdb45b76d";
+    hash = "sha256-E0kymRxy5aubvcwE5sHcS4T3OEY924TAOXtJN69wp+8=";
   };
 
+  # Fix build with GCC 14
+  env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-Wno-error=incompatible-pointer-types";
+
   makefile = "Makefile";
 
   meta = {
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2016.nix b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2016.nix
index 31e929b7089a..221940e06eaa 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2016.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/mame2016.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   fetchFromGitHub,
   mkLibretroCore,
   python3,
+  rapidjson,
 }:
 mkLibretroCore {
   core = "mame2016";
@@ -16,14 +17,22 @@ mkLibretroCore {
     hash = "sha256-IsM7f/zlzvomVOYlinJVqZllUhDfy4NNTeTPtNmdVak=";
   };
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    rm -r 3rdparty/rapidjson
+    ln -s ${lib.getInclude rapidjson} 3rdparty/rapidjson
+  '';
+
   patches = [ ./patches/mame2016-python311.patch ];
   extraNativeBuildInputs = [ python3 ];
   extraBuildInputs = [ alsa-lib ];
   makeFlags = [ "PYTHON_EXECUTABLE=python3" ];
-  # Build failures when this is set to a bigger number
-  NIX_BUILD_CORES = 8;
-  # Fix build errors in GCC13
-  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-Wno-error -fpermissive";
+
+  env = {
+    # Build failures when this is set to a bigger number
+    NIX_BUILD_CORES = 8;
+    # Fix build errors in GCC 13
+    NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-Wno-error -fpermissive";
+  };
 
   meta = {
     description = "Port of MAME ~2016 to libretro, compatible with MAME 0.174 sets";
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/np2kai.nix b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/np2kai.nix
index 2ca6b2fba9c6..6ba98244a320 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/np2kai.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/cores/np2kai.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ mkLibretroCore rec {
     "NP2KAI_HASH=${builtins.substring 0 7 src.rev}"
   ];
 
+  # Fix build with GCC 14
+  env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = toString [
+    "-Wno-error=incompatible-pointer-types"
+    "-Wno-error=int-conversion"
+  ];
+
   preBuild = "cd sdl";
 
   meta = {
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/mkLibretroCore.nix b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/mkLibretroCore.nix
index d8fb8879e7f5..9e063fe02572 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/mkLibretroCore.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/emulators/libretro/mkLibretroCore.nix
@@ -83,7 +83,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (
 
     passthru = {
       inherit core libretroCore;
-      updateScript = unstableGitUpdater { };
+      # libretro repos sometimes has a fake tag like "Current", ignore
+      # it by setting hardcodeZeroVersion
+      updateScript = unstableGitUpdater { hardcodeZeroVersion = true; };
     } // (args.passthru or { });
 
     meta =